Where Do We Go From Here||Family Bonding

Chapter Summary: We meet the rest of Jack's family... Jack was right when he called a family dinner a disaster. Outfits have to be made for the Ball too. Joy. Basically a filler chapter in the arc so I could just develop them as a family unit a bit more?

Chapter Rating: T for June-freaking-Summers who is infamous for her sailor mouth and unrestraint with her usage of the f-bomb and Vuli's obnoxiousness


Disclaimer: I don't own RotG etc etc but I am the proud possessor of self-diagnosed antisocial-disorder-thingamabob-y and an extreme phobia/hatred of face-to-face talking with people. You internet sorts are much better.


"HEY! That is why no one likes you!" Jack and Seraphina walked into the dining room in time to see June bitch-slap Vuli across the face with all her might, knocking him out of his ornate chair and leaving a bright red handprint on his face that was blistering. Jack chucked a snowball at his older brother and it sizzled as it came in contact with the mark.

The teen was crouched on the table, her bright red hair emitting a heat mirage, and she was practically growling. A camera on the table burst into flames and all that was left was a pile of ash; June must have increased the temperature enough in that area to make it short out and burn.

Jack intervened; Mother was more of the 'I won't be able to fight your battles in the real world, use this as practice' kind of mom. "Whoa! June, as much as I love seeing Vuli laying on the floor like that, can you maybe get off the table?"

"Shut up!" she screamed. A torch on the wall went on fire and his eyes went wide, backing away from her as she whipped around to face them. June's eyes were glowing red with anger.

"Junie-" Lily began timidly.

"I said shut up!" June cried again loudly and jumped at Lily.

Jack yelled a war cry and got into the battle physically, knowing full-well what happened when he and June fought hand-to-hand. But he couldn't let his baby sister get hurt. He leapt at June and got to her before she could get to Blossom, wrapping his arms around his older sister from behind and pinning her arms to her sides. They both gasped at the temperature difference but Jack wouldn't let go, landing on the table with a bang that rattled the windows. They rolled around on the table, a burning, freezing mess, both struggling for dominance and to get on top. Eventually the blows stopped flying and limbs quit their flailing, ending with Jack holding June's wrists to the table above her head and sitting on her legs with his knees on either side of her so she couldn't move. "June, snap out of it!" She was still trying to get free, but Jack was too strong. "You tried to hurt Blossom."

All the anger drained from her eyes, leaving them their natural red-rimmed green, the green clouded over as usual. She stopped moving and allowed him to hold her down, looking upset, and tears threatened to spill out of her eyes. She didn't look like a wild animal anymore, just a lost little girl.

Upon seeing she was back to normal, Jack stood and jumped off the table, wincing at all the burns from where their skin had made contact. June was only dangerous to them when her eyes became glowing red, not even any white or pupil showing but just bright uninterrupted red filling the space between her eyes and seen through her eyelids when they closed. When the eyes were gone, she was back to herself. It was a condition from when she had been mortal, they had figured out; she had a dual personality that took over when June couldn't deal with things, and it wasn't a nice alternate persona, destroying everything in it's path, no matter the cost. Anything could trigger it, but Blossom was usually the relaxant, her sisterly instincts overriding the fury.

June climbed off the table cautiously so as not to scare Lily, her legs shaking from using so much power. "Blossom? Lily, sweetie, are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

Lily crept out from under the table where she had taken refuge during the fight. "Junie? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Blossom. I'm so sorry."

Lily shuffled to the teen and the girl kneeled to her height. "D-did Missy come back?"

The elder nodded, ashamed. "I didn't mean it, anything I said, I swear it wasn't me. I'll try harder next time."

"It's okay Junie," Lily hugged the older girl.

June wrapped her arms around her little sister, resting her chin on the small blonde head. "If Missy comes back, I want you to run." She looked at the others. "And I want you to snap me out of it, no matter what. I don't care if you have to break my arm, just make her go away. Dump snow on me, whatever you have to do, just don't let me hurt anyone."

Jack nodded, frost blooming over his arms, midsection where his shirt had slid up, neck, and face where his skin was turning red. Because of his low temperature, the burns hurt much worse but healed quicker, his body naturally repairing itself faster. He and Mother were always the most adept at calming her down, Vuli just making her angrier and Lily too scared to go near her. "Sis, what made you so mad?"

June looked upset, acting like the young woman she was for once. "H-he made fun of my outfit. He said I look stupid and my Color is copper and copper is inferior to bronze so he's better than me."

Mother snorted. "Juniper, love," June bristled at the use of her full name, "-your Color reflects who you are. You are a fiery red copper, good for conducting heat and electricity. Bronze is a duller metal compromised of copper and tin, which is all Vuli is, if he is going to be such an ass to his sister. See? Lily is brass, similar-looking to gold but different in it's melting points and malleability."

"Then what's Jack-Jack?" Lily asked innocently. She was used to vulgar language, living as long as she did with easily angered Spirits.

Vuli snickered. "Wasn't that a baby who could set himself on fire in some Disney movie?" An ice splinter landed an inch away from his ear, imbedded deep into the floor. He froze, seeing both his younger brother's and his mother's hand extended, so he couldn't tell who had warned him. He decided to keep his mouth shut.

"Jack is platinum and silver. I do believe that it is previously unheard of, having two Colors, but as you know, his father is the Moon and thus he will be different than us. I think the silver is a side effect of being a Moon-creation and the platinum is his natural Color. It is pure, more expensive and rare than silver, and is whiter. Silver has gray undertones that give it it's slightly darker appearance, and it is a cheap and common material. Fitting, for the Moon." Seraphina didn't bother to disguise her disdain for the Moon. In fact, she wouldn't have invited the Guardians if the festival didn't occur at both day and night for three days straight and she did not want to offend one of the second most powerful supernatural beings to exist around earth and his minions. And they were Jack's new friends.

Jack, the only one new to the bi-centennial changing, stared at June and Vuli openly, his jaw hanging in shock as he really saw them for the first time today. Replacing June's customary tie-dye skinny jeans and red bikini top (that thing was strapless, and the only thing holding it together was a 'v' of wire in the front; Jack really didn't want to be around when it broke) was a dress just like Lily and Mother's, but there seemed to be flames somehow sewn into the coppery fabric. The ring on her right middle finger was no longer blackened metal but had a copper embellishment in the middle. Vuli was dressed almost identically to Jack except his Color was bronze, the paintbrush tucked behind his ear a burnished bronze too. So that's what June was being so sensitive about. Vuli probably took a picture.

Mother clapped abruptly, once. "Alright, that's enough monologing for one night! Sit down, sit down, it's time for dinner!" She pulled out a chair at the end of the table, everyone else following suit in their respective places.

Jack sat at the end of the table near Mother Nature, with Vuli on his other side. June took her seat across from Vuli and Lily beside her. Once they were seated and had napkins in their laps, little gold orbs of light drifted out of the door to the kitchen with trays on their backs. There were small sounds of the dishes being put down, and the family got a look at the dinner. It was classic family-style meal, with fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, macaroni and cheese, carrots and spinach, all sorts of 'comfort food'.

The four children all looked to their Mother, who pretended she didn't see the looks they were giving her and instead busied herself with taking a helping of mashed potatoes and passing the bowl. "Can someone pass the green beans?"

The kids all exchanged glances. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.


"INCOMING!" Vuli yelled, flinging a spoonful of mashed potatoes at June. It hit her in the side of the face and she shrieked.

"VULI CHENJI I WILL RIP YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF- JACKSON DO NOT START WITH ME TODAY- IF YOU FLING ONE MORE THING AT ME!" June screamed, standing on her chair. The boys were already covered in assorted foods. "I'm going to take a shower," she muttered, smirking as she walked away. Several yelps informed her that her attempt at heating up the silverware had worked.

Lily stuck her tongue out at Jack. Jack frosted it, making her drink hot chocolate quickly to melt it. Vuli's thrown drink was sucked up by a few plants, then spat right back at him.

The food fight continued, full of shrieks and laughter, until a blob of creamed corn hit Mother Nature in the ear. Everyone froze, food falling to the floor and chairs tipping before they could be caught. "Who threw that." Mother's voice was deadly and low.

Jack raised a trembling hand. Mother threw a roll at his head and it hit him in the cheek. "You are so gonna get it now, son!" she shrieked, her voice bubbling with mirth, leaping up on the table and pelting the remaining three. In no time she was just as dirty as the rest. June came back, fully clean with her short hair still wet (and steaming), and immediately jumped back into the fight.

Scratch that earlier statement, BEST FAMILY DINNER EVER!


~.:|EXTRA LONG BREAK|:.~


"Mooooom," Vuli whined.

"Do we have to?" June continued, pouting.

"I don't wanna!" Lily cried, crossing her arms and stomping her foot.

"Kill me noowww," Jack moaned, pulling his hair.

"That can be arranged," Mother said calmly. "Now get out from behind the screens. This isn't the first time you've had to do this, and it certainly won't be the last, so get your scrawny asses out here!"

"Urgh, fine," June muttered, stepping away from the screen that had shielded her. She was probably the most comfortable with it, wearing a bikini all the time, so just wearing a bathing suit ("There is no way in hell you are making me go out there in a bra and panties!") around her siblings was fine with her.

Lily followed suit, reaching up to hold her older sister's hand and tugging at the hem of her yellow undershirt. Vuli came out third, rolling his eyes and keeping his arms crossed over his bare chest, ignoring the snickers at his maroon leaf-print boxers.

"Mother, can I have mine done in private?" Jack was a little embarrassed.

Sera huffed and planted her hands on her hips. "No. It will be girls in one room, boys in the other, and no one will make fun of your underwear. Okay?"

There was a small sigh and Jack suddenly sounded very young. "Okay." His voice resembled that of a child. He shuffled out nervously, his arms folded over his abdomen as he gripped his elbows. While the others were lean, the Frost-Child was most definitely the thinnest. His ribs were fairly easy to count, and his arms and legs were like twigs, bony shoulders and knobby knees even more pronounced without his clothes covering them. There was a large purple-black spot directly above where his heart was, growing and shrinking slowly with his sluggish heartbeat, and his fingers and toes appeared a similar shade, just a tiny bit, only made obvious without the blue fabric he wrapped himself in. He was very self-conscious, worried about what his siblings would say (especially about his white-and-blue snowflake boxers).

Instead of the reactions he had been expecting, either concern or disgust, Vuli strode over and slung an arm around his shoulders, daring anyone to say anything about his baby brother's physique with his deep brown eyes. "C'mon, little bro, let's go. I don't think the ladies can handle all... this." He motioned vaguely in Jack's direction.

"But... you just gestured to all of me." Jack let his arms fall, feeling better about himself.

"Exactly." Vuli nodded satisfactorily.

"Hey!" June interjected. "You make our family sound incest-y!"

"Don't go to any pool parties when are any girls are there, ya' hear? They won't leave you alone," the Spirit of Autumn continued as if he hadn't heard his sister, but his snickers when Lily asked what incest was gave him away.

Jack grinned, striking a superman pose that made Vuli wince. It made the kid look so much smaller and thinner, as if he was frail and brittle and about to break. "More like you don't want to lose them to me."

"Aw, shut up. Let's get this over with."

"Race you!" Jack yelled gleefully, running off without warning.

Mother mouthed a silent 'thank you' to Vuli before he sprinted after his brother. Then she turned back to the other girls. "Get on the pedestals." They rolled their eyes, Lily just imitating June, but stood on the elevated platforms. With a snap of Mother Nature's fingers, glowing orbs of gold light zipped through the doorway, armed with pins, needles, fabric, measuring tapes, duct tape, and tasers.

The last two were not a good sign.

"Alright, I'll go start on the boys, be back in a jiffy!" Mother was out the door before one could say "Nature". Lily resigned herself to the torture, actually having fun, tying bits of ribbon around the orbs, declaring them as her own and such, making them glow noticeably brighter, while June kicked them away nastily and wound up duct-taped into position and dizzy from multiple taserings (being a good conductor of electricity sucked).

Ooh, today was just not her day.


Sera popped her head in the doorway of the boys' room. "How's it going so far?"

"Good," Vuli and Jack chorused. They had gotten along well since Vuli's little bit of brotherly friendliness. It was more of a sibling protectiveness, 'no one makes fun of him but me' kind of thing, but still. Even Vuli wasn't mean enough to tease him about his malnourished body, instead shooting comments about underwear, ones Jack easily rebuked and replied to, and Vuli let him. They may be acting like regular brothers now, and tomorrow be back to fighting worse than ever, but there was a mutual understanding that they would never bring Jack's body into a fight, nor compare him to Vuli (who was pretty well-muscled), and they would act like today had never happened.

"Great!" Seraphina chirped brightly. The orbs were circling the boys, taking measurements, but Mother grabbed the papers they had somehow written on (despite lacking hands) and scanned them quickly, confirming the measurements with her eyes. "These are all good. I have a few designs for your outfits, I just want you to pick three of them!"

Ah. Now her chipper attitude was explained; it had to do with fashion and making her sons do something they absolutely dreaded.

The woman shoved a sketchbook into each Spirit's hands, a brown one with a leaf on it for Vuli and a blue one with a white snowflake for Jack. They each got a green highlighter too, for circling their favorite designs. Vuli flipped through his quickly, circling the ones that looked the most comfortable and handing it back like the book was a disease, but Jack took longer, meticulously looking at each one before circling his three. Mother practically ripped it out of his hands and checked which ones he had circled eagerly. "Ooh! You picked my favorites!" Yes, Jack knew that, there were so many notes and stars and hearts and checkmarks around them that he almost couldn't see the patterns. "Perfect! I want to do these myself!" She was visibly less thrilled with Vuli's choices, but she shrugged and began delegating tasks to the balls of light, which were off like they had been shot from a cannon.

"Are we done here?" Vuli asked impatiently. "I want to go home."

Jack did a double take. "You have a home?" His voice was full of awe that tugged at the others' heartstrings.

"You don't?"

Jack shook his head. "Just my lake. And I have my favorite tree." He looked proud of that.

"Where is it?" Mother asked with interest. "I would like to visit."

Jack waved his hand, yelping when a light-servant jabbed him with a pin as another draped fabric over him. "Burgess. It's where I drowned."

Vuli almost fell off his pedestal in shock, steadied by Seraphina. "Where you drow-?!" Mother slapped her hand over his mouth and shook her head when her youngest son wasn't looking.

"Maybe you can show me later," the woman replied calmly. "It sounds delightful."

Jack beamed. "Yeah, it's beautiful! The lake is this pretty blue and its really clear-" He launched into a massive tirade about his lake, finishing breathlessly only once he was stabbed with another pin. "So, yeah," he finished lamely, rubbing his arm. "You should stop by."

"I'll make sure we all do that. Jack, I do hope you know you are welcome here whenever you want, however. You do not have to wait to be summoned. Winter Quadrant is your home, and I doubt you want that annoying Jokul Frosti to try to take over as the Spirit of Winter since you haven't been coronated yet, do you?"

Jack shook his head quickly. "I can't wait for this to be over. It's going to be so embarrassing."

Mother tilted her head to the side, then adjusted his cape and stuck another pin in it. "I'm proud of you, my son, finally being officially coronated in just two months. I can hardly wait!" She clapped and Wind-East swirled around her, lifting and tucking bits of fabric here and there. She made some marks, then whipped the cloth off them. "Go get dressed. I'll need you tomorrow, but you're free for now. Go explore." Sera sat at a table with a sewing machine on top and the boys fled before she could ask them for help.

She chuckled and shook her head. "Boys will be boys..."


A/N:
Done because I don't really know what I tried to accomplish with this. It was really just goofy bonding.
Sorry for not updating earlier blah blah, and I have a very late Valentine's Day update for you which will hopefully be ready by tomorrow, it's taken me two freaking days to write it, that is part of the reason I hate Valentine's Day. Plus, I'm single, so I get chocolate from my parents (which is good because they get me good chocolate). I really prefer Singles Awareness Day, but whatever!
I just realized I was working on an arc about dead people that was going to evolve into romance on V-Day but all I got was Jack talking to a tombstone like a nutjob about how amazing Pippa was (#whoops).
A-a-a-and I spent all day procrastinating by writing fanfiction instead of working on my novel... I mean I have like five years to write it like yo I'm just a teen but I really wanna get this shit done but FanFiction... it calls to me... But maybe I'll post something that would go on the back of the book here later, so you guys can tell me what you think.

Cat Lunanoff, signing off! *mock salute*